Abstract: An electrotactile vocoder includes a handset (3) carrying stimulating electrodes (9) positioned adjacent openings (8) in the handset and electrically contacting the fingers when the handset is worn to cause stimulation of the digital nerves of the fingers, a speech processor/stimulator unit (2) for producing electrical stimuli at the electrodes (9) based on incoming speech and other information received by a microphone (1), the stimulator unit including circuit means for applying stimulating currents to the electrodes (9), the speech processor unit including means for encoding the presence of unvoiced speech components or for encoding information to a first formant F1 in addition to information relating to a second formant F2 and for applying the stimulating currents to selected pairs of electrodes.